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“Most Dangerous Place” (between a politician and a camera or microphone)

It’s often said that the most dangerous place to be in the world is between a politician and a camera (or a microphone). You’ll get crushed!

U.S. Senator Bob Dole (R-Kansas) said in 1995 that the most dangerous place in Washington was between then-Representative Charles Schumer and a camera. The quip has long been associated with New York Senator Chuck Schumer, who gives many Sunday news-camera-ready speeches. At the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, Schumer took the microphone away from New York Governor David Paterson.

The “most dangerous place” quotation had been associated with Texas Senator Phil Gramm in the 1980s. Gramm was known for “grammstanding” for the media and the “most dangerous place” quotation was applied to him by at least 1982.

Wikipedia: Phil GrammWilliam Philip “Phil” Gramm (born July 8, 1942, in Fort Benning, Georgia, USA) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a Democratic Congressman (1978–1983), a Republican Congressman (1983–1985) and a Republican Senator from Texas (1985–2002).

Wikipedia: Chuck SchumerCharles Ellis “Chuck” Schumer (born November 23, 1950) is the senior U.S. Senator from the State of New York, serving since 1999. A liberal Democrat, in 2005, he became chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. In November 2006, he was elected to the new post of Vice Chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus. In this position, he is the fourth-ranking Democrat in the Senate, behind President pro tempore Robert Byrd, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin.

Indeed, he has not. The Texas Democrat’s flair for publicity and self-promotion has caused many of his colleagues to mutter. Some of them joke that the most dangerous place on Capitol Hill is between Gramm and a television camera.

6 January 1983, Dallas (TX) Morning News, “Kubiak expect to challenge Gramm in 6th” by Sam Attlesey, pg. 7A, col. 1:
“This isn’t my quote, but someone said that the most dangerous place to be in Washington was to be between Phil Gramm and a TV camera,” said Atty. Gen. Jim Maddox, a Democrat who once considered running in Gramm’s district.

2 October 1984, Dallas (TX) Morning News, “Gramm Carries Gospel to ‘Yellow Dog’ Country” by Mark Edgar:
Even his colleagues know the joke: “The most dangerous place in politics is between Phil Gramm and a TV camera.”

Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
TEXAS POLITICIAN EAGER TO BE THE LONE STAR FROM CONGRESS
Published on November 23, 1990.
SOURCE: CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
It often is said that the most dangerous place to stand in the nation’s capital is between a microphone and a member of Congress. But Rep. Jack Fields, R-Texas, is setting new standards of eagerness.

New York (NY) TimesAt the Bar; Dershowitz wows ‘em again! (Is there no escaping this guy?)
By DAVID MARGOLICK
Published: February 15, 1991
(...)
Nonetheless, Mr. Wice couldn’t resist noting what he called Mr. Dershowitz’s predilection for publicity. “I’ve discovered that the most dangerous place to be in the criminal justice system is not the Federal Penitentiary at Marion or the holding cell at the Tombs, but between Alan Dershowitz and a television camera,” he said.

Kansas City (MO) StarGovernors flourished in limelight’s shine
RICH HOOD
TULSA, Okla. - The most dangerous place to be last week in this overheated Oklahoma town was between a governor and a television camera. Forty-three of the nation’s governors were on parade last week at the National Governors’ Association summer conference.

And it was a sight to see.

Everywhere you looked, chief executives were posing for photographs, practicing sound bites and checking their profile on videotape. These women and men are successful, and they…
Published on 1993-08-22, Page B1, The Kansas City Star

11 March 1994, Washington (DC) Post:
“When I first arrived in Washington,” said Jones, “I was warned that the most dangerous place to be standing was between Newt and a TV camera.”

Dole responded by saying, “The most dangerous place is between him and a camera.”

New York (NY) TimesLegislating at 50 Paces: New Jersey’s Senators
By JAMES DAO
Published: April 26, 1998
(...)
‘’The old joke used to be: What’s the most dangerous place in the world? The space between a politician and a microphone,’’ said State Senator Raymond J. Lesniak, a Democrat from Elizabeth who is friendly with both Senators. ‘’Well, in New Jersey, the most dangerous place in the world is between Senator Lautenberg and Senator Torricelli.’’

Washington (DC) PostWord for Word, Schumer Meets His Match
By Dana Milbank
Friday, July 15, 2005; A04
Bob Dole once observed that the most dangerous place in Washington is between Chuck Schumer and a TV camera. But yesterday, the senior senator from the state of loquacity met his match.

NRA-ILA
A favorite quip in the U.S. Capitol is that the most dangerous place to stand is between Sen. Charles Schumer and a microphone. So when New York`s senior senator rose to the podium at the National Press Club to share his views on Judge John Roberts`s prospects to sit on the Supreme Court, he was both unimpeded and undaunted by the noticeably small turnout,” writes Manuel Miranda.
Read About It: Wall Street Journal
Posted: 8/3/2005 9:19:47 AM

Jake and Susie in Spain
Thursday, January 17, 2008
The Most Dangerous Place
There’s an old political saying that the most dangerous place you can be is between Chuck Schumer and a microphone.

Bob Parks Black & Right (September 1, 2008)Schumer Being Schumer
Outside of being on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier, the most dangerous place in the world is to be between New York Senator Charles Schumer and a microphone or television camera. This still holds true.

New York (NY) Post
GOLIATH STOMPS DAVID
Posted: 3:28 am
September 2, 2008
The most dangerous spot in politics, it’s often been said, is between Sen. Chuck Schumer and a camera. That turns out to hold even for the governor of New York.

Schumer’s look-at-me antics took a truly undignified turn last week at the Democratic convention in Denver, with the senator doing his best to steal Gov. Paterson’s time in the spotlight.

As The Post’s Fredric U. Dicker reported yesterday, Schumer apparently stomped on Paterson’s prerogative in introducing Sen. Hillary Clinton at a gathering of the state delegation.

When Clinton showed up to the breakfast meeting, Schumer simply declined to turn over the microphone to the gov.